The family, friends and supporters of former Anglo Irish Bank chief David Drumm are said to be hopeful this weekend that a Boston judge will accede to his request that he be released on bail.

Judge Richard Stearns is considering arguments presented by Mr Drumm's lawyers, outlining the reasons why he should be released from custody pending his extradition hearing, which is due to start in March.

Mr Drumm has been held in four prisons in two US states since being arrested at his home in a Boston suburb on the morning of October 10 last. His movement between facilities was prompted by "a series of highly unusual past and ongoing incidents" which posed a threat to his personal safety, documents supporting the former banker's petition to the court state.

In presenting their application to Judge Stearns last Friday, lawyers for the former Anglo chief argued that in jailing Mr Drumm the court had incorrectly interpreted the wishes of the Irish authorities who were now seeking his extradition.

Mr Drumm's attorney, Ed McNally, told the court that the court had erred in finding that the Irish authorities had "specifically asked that [Mr Drumm] be detained pending his return to Ireland".

Documents filed by Mr McNally with the court last Friday show that while the request for Mr Drumm's extradition had indicated that the DPP was "interested and invested in the appropriate execution of their request", this was "quite different from an explicit request that the defendant be detained prior to and for the duration of his extradition proceeding".

"Ireland made no such request," Mr McNally stated, noting that: "Based on the constitutional presumption of bail in Ireland, it appears that Irish prosecutors would be barred from doing so."

He argued Judge Donald Cabell's denial of Mr Drumm's request for bail was based on an "unsupported finding of fact".

Elsewhere, Mr McNally noted a "complex white-collar extradition hearing", such as Mr Drumm's, could take many years.